Real-time payments expected to take strong hold by 2018

by. Dan Kramer

In a recent ACI Worldwide survey, 200 financial industry professionals were asked their opinions regarding mobile services, real-time payments, and the factors hindering both. The survey polled executives of commercial and retail financial institutions (FIs), credit card companies, and technology providers. Eighty-three percent of respondents believed that real-time payments would become the standard for FIs by 2018.

“We’ve long anticipated the move toward real-time payments, and the response from both these survey participants and the community at large further validates our belief,” said Paul Thomalla, senior vice president and managing director of EMEA, ACI Worldwide. Along with forecasting future real-time payment use, the survey also highlighted some of the obstacles standing in the way of widespread acceptance of this payments innovation.

Study participants indicated one of the major hindrances of real-time payment adoption is the “siloing” of bank data. According to the survey, 77 percent believe that FIs operate in silos, and that this makes it difficult to create scalable, efficient, and responsive payment networks. The survey concluded that moving to a receptive payments platform would make FIs better equipped at “introducing new concepts and implementing regulatory updates.”

Sixty-five percent of respondents believe that the greatest demand from corporate customers will be to create a better mobile and tablet banking experience. As mobile-device adoption continues to rise, there will be greater demand for user-friendly and feature-rich banking apps.

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